"Coolest Job You Can Have"

"Without law enforcement, all of the efforts done by biologists are just good recommendations," says Russell Haskett, whose territory includes four refuges and one waterfowl production area in southeastern Idaho.
Credit: Lance Roberts/USFWS

Federal wildlife officer is “the coolest job you can have,” says Jim Hall, chief of the Division of Refuge Law Enforcement. “From tagging grizzly bears on the Alaska tundra to checking deer hunters in Mississippi to checking duck hunters in Louisiana; up in the early morning with the beautiful sunrises and marvelous sunsets that you see by going out there every day. It is absolutely the coolest job anyone can ever hold.”

Today, there are 281 full-time officer positions and 111 dual-function officers in the National Wildlife Refuge System. Refuge Update January February 2014 shares some of their stories.